


Just Wait until Tomorrow

by douchecasters



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-03
Updated: 2014-02-03
Packaged: 2018-01-11 00:44:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1166581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/douchecasters/pseuds/douchecasters
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Louis gets to be partners with the gorgeous girl in his photography class that he's been eyeing for a while now.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Just Wait until Tomorrow

_Stop staring. I kept telling myself that but I couldn’t seem to pry my eyes off of her. She’s going to see you stop staring._

_“Louis?” I shot my head up and saw Mrs. Ryser’s eyes peeking over the rim of her glasses and staring at me, waiting for something._

_“Hm?” I could only hum in response because of the hard lump I felt in my throat._

_“I had asked if you could tell me the definition of a fisheye lens.”  She said with a hint of agitation in her voice. I knew the answer. I always knew the answer. Photography was my best class. But everyone’s eyes were on me, including **hers**. I could physically feel  **her**  icicle blue eyes piercing through me._

_“I, um,” I’m lost for words until I glance down to see Lauren’s hand slipping ever so slowly across the border line our desks are sharing. I looked up at the teacher and stated the definition written on the ripped out piece of paper. “It is a camera lens having a wider than normal angle of view.” Mrs. Ryser was never a teacher I hated. She was actually one of my favorites because she was one of those rare good teachers who give a shit about you._

_“Thanks for helping him, Lauren,” she said quickly with a smirk before turning back to the whiteboard and I heard Lauren’s quiet snicker from next to me. I love the kid but god she’s quite annoying sometimes._

_“Have you quite finished?” I whispered, not taking my eyes off the front of the class and trying really hard not to look at Rachel again._

_“No need to be hasty with me just because you were embarrassed in front of your girlfriend,” she said teasing me a bit but I can hear the agitation in her voice. I shot her an apologetic look and she rolled her eyes._

_“She isn’t my girlfriend,” I protested._

_“You want her to be,” she countered back. That shut me up because it was true. God, she was just so beautiful. She had long chestnut coloured hair and these beautiful blue eyes. And she wore these glasses all the time. They were thick framed and wide and they made her eyes pop a lot. And she had freckles on her cheeks and nose and arms and forehead. And her smile was so…dazzling. And she was brilliant and great with a camera from what I’ve noticed. And from the band t-shirts she wears, she listens to some pretty damn good music. And she was funny. Lauren talks to her every now and then and tells me she is anyway. But also, her tweets make me laugh a lot. She was just so superbly wonderful and I didn’t understand how she didn’t have more friends than she actually did. She seemed like very reserved. She had her headphones in all the time. Even during class, this is why I don’t know how she’s doing so well._

_“A little bit,” I said after a moment. I saw Lauren smile at me from the corner of my eye._

_“Why don’t you do something about it?” she asked me._

_“I don’t know. We don’t know each other that well. Why don’t you do anything about Jonathan?” I asked, trying to get her to shut up. They were friends that pushed a few boundaries and it was so incredibly obvious he had feelings for her. She felt the same way but I guess it was a weird step for her. She didn’t respond and we carried on with class in silence after that._

_Mrs. Ryser announced our first group assignment of the semester at the end of class and told us to pick a partner. Lauren of course went to Jonathan and that left me alone. Normally, I would pair of with Zayn, but he dropped this class for a semester long film class he had taken interest in months ago. I glanced around the room for someone. But everyone was with their normal pair. Cher was with Perrie, Liam was with Niall. I could already hear Ed and Harry talking about when they were going to who’s house. I thought about asking Rachel, since she normally did her projects on her own. Like I said, she was very reserved. But that’s the thing. She liked working alone. And everyone thought that abnormal of her. So I sat back like a chump, feeling a bit of self-loathing and pity. It’s that kind of “unwanted” feeling like no one thought you worthy enough for you to be in their group._

_“Um, Louis,” I heard a quiet little voice from behind me and a tap against my shoulder. I pivoted my chair to see Rachel – stunning, beautiful Rachel – looking straight at me with those eyes. She looked so…nervous. She was apprehensive of something and I was in agony waiting to see what she had to say to me. “I know you normally pair up with Zayn, but you know he left and, well, Mrs. Ryser said I couldn’t work on my own for this one because it’s a portrait. So…” she kind of trailed off and I think she was asking me to be her partner and I felt my whole heart swell up._

_“Yes, sure, absolutely,” I nodded my head and gave a smile so big I felt an ache in my cheeks._

_“Great, good – um – why don’t you come to my house tonight,” she said pulling a notebook from her bag and a pencil from the pocket of her hoodie. “Here are my number and my address,” she said slowly as she chicken-scratched a few numbers and words on a little scrap piece of paper. She handed me the paper with a smile. “Would five, six o’ clock work?”_

_“Five thirty,” I clarified. I wasn’t really sure if I was asking, I just sort of said it. She nodded at me and gave a small smile from the corner of her mouth before the bell rang. I watched her walk out the door before I turned around to see Lauren with a huge smile on her face._

_“Do not look at me like that,” I warned her. She looked like she was going to burst with emotions at how giddy she was for me._

_“What look?” she asked threw a toothy grin and I couldn’t help but smile myself._

_“Go to Spanish, you twat,” I said shooing her away._

_—_

_Each class seemed to go by slower and slower and I wanted so badly to be showing up at Rachel’s door right now. I let my imagination get the best of me instead of paying attention to Shrader rant about Shakespeare. I could just imagine walking up to her front door and her smiling at me as she opened the door, looking as beautiful as ever. And I would tell her that and she would roll her eyes and blush and tell me how sappy I was. And I would step into the house and peck her on the lips and wrap my arms around her waist. And she would tell me we have to get to work and when I try to take a picture of her she would make stupid faces and poses and cover her face with her hands and I would set the camera down and rush over to her and pull her in my arms and kiss her hands and she’d be laughing behind them and I’d continue to kiss her hands until she removed them and there’d be a finger print on her glasses and I’d take them from her and clean them so they’re perfect then I would put them on my face and she’d giggle at how stupid I looked and take a picture of me. Damn it, I think I’m crushing on her a bit too much. I shook the thought from my head just as the bell began to ring and I was fucking hungry. But, since Mr. Shrader was Mr. Shrader, he told us we had to wait. The bell doesn’t dismiss you, I dismiss you._

_“Hey, mate, did Shrader hold you back again?” Zayn asked me as I walked away from the almost empty line for food. I nodded and rolled my eyes as I took a seat next to him. Perrie sat down a few moments later and pressed a kiss to his lips making the rest of us gag. “Oh, pipe down you pricks!”_

_“Lou, did I see you talking to Rachel today?” Perrie asked curiously with a little glint in her eye._

_“Yeah, they’re gonna be partners for the portrait assignment,” Ed said with a smile._

_“I heard him trying to chat her up but kept choking on his own nerves,” Harry laughed. I blew my straw wrapper at his face before I plopped the straw in my milk. Just then Lauren sat down on my other side and took a chip from me._

_“What are we talking about?” she asked._

_“Lou’s is Rachel Jensen’s partner for Photography class,” Zayn answered her._

_“Oh yeah, did he mention he’s going to her house later today?” she asked knowing everyone would get riled up. Zayn patted me on my back and everyone clapped and I felt my cheeks burn crimson._

_“Would you guys knock it off?” I yelled._

_“Oh relax, Louis, we’re just messing with you. We’re happy for you,” Lauren countered patting my back.  I was desperate to get off the subject._

_“Why did it take you so long? You just came from Algebra, and that’s right down the hall.” She didn’t answer but just continued to eat the disgusting mac and cheese. I hated it but she loved it and I didn’t understand why she wouldn’t pick chips as a side instead. If she did, she wouldn’t be eating mine._

_“She was walking her boyfriend to his class,” Zayn answered for her._

_“He isn’t my boyfriend,” she muttered._

_“C’mon, Lauren, grow some balls and talk to the boy about it,” Ed encouraged._

_“Yeah, Lauren he obviously likes you,” Perrie smiled at her._

_“Okay the only reason we’re talking about this is because Louis didn’t want to be teased about Rachel,” she rambled out and everyone knew all too well when Lauren was getting too annoyed._

_“Eh, we’ll all shut up, now,” Harry smiled patting Lauren’s back. After that, we moved on to other subjects like how great Zayn was doing in his film class and how Ed’s going to have to hit the books all weekend for his chemistry test coming up._

_I tried really hard to listen to everyone’s stories for the day – as boring as some of them were; Ed was talking about chemistry for god’s sakes – but I was finding it harder and harder to focus with each time I heard that damn oh-so-cute laugh from that table a couple rows away from me. She was sitting right over there. She was with Liam Payne and Niall Horan who she seemed to be around quite a bit. She sat with those two and a couple of unfamiliar faced people as well every day for lunch; at that exact same table. I mean I did too – I always sat with Zayn and Lauren obviously and Harry and Ed started joining us a few months back and Perrie’s been here since they started dating (which was like a year ago). But Rachel was always so close by and every day I had to restrain myself from marching up to her table and pressing a kiss to her shiny pink lips._

_Just as I started to think about how this evening might go again, I felt a set of knuckles hitting against my arm and instantly hissed at Lauren because who else would have punched me? She frowned at me and pointed to the six trays stacked on top of one another in front of my placing at the table._

_“Your turn to take the trays,” she declared and I furrowed my brows together._

_“Didn’t I do that on Wednesday? It’s Harry’s turn I believe.”_

_“Harry already left to go meet up with Grimshaw before class. If you weren’t drooling of desperation you would have noticed that before he left.” I groaned and stood up with the trays reaching up to my elbows as I carried them off to the bins._

_I tried my very hardest to not slip and fall on my face as I walked past Rachel’s table. I felt my cheeks get hot when she turned and saw me and gave me that huge smile. She turned back towards her friends for a minute before turning around with another four trays and setting them on top of mine as I walked by. I really didn’t want to have to carry ten trays but Rachel wanted me to so I would._

_“Hey, Lou, mind taking these?” she asked me with a shit eating grin. She called me Lou. How cute is she? I really wanted to say no and if it was anyone else I would have but I just gave her a small smile and nodded my head._

_“Sure,” and I started to walk off when I felt her hand lightly grip my shoulder and I felt my legs go so numb I wasn’t even sure how I was standing._

_“I was kidding,” she said giggling in between her words. “Need any help with those?”_

_“No, no, I got it for ya.”_

_“Don’t be ridiculous they’re up past your elbows.” I shrugged and she refused to listen. First she took her four trays and handed them to Niall – I think that was his name; I don’t know it’s quite the abnormal name I just know from class – and then took three of the six trays remaining before walking back with me to the bins.  We walked in silence for a while and I was so desperate to find something to talk about but I couldn’t find one thing interesting enough for her. So I stayed quiet but thank god she finally said something._

_“So, you’re not going to like…blow me off tonight right?” and she seemed completely serious and I couldn’t imagine why someone would want to blow **her**  off._

_“No, absolutely not, you said six-ish right?” I asked her like I had forgotten. I haven’t forgotten. In fact, I haven’t stopped thinking about it for like seventy four years (okay that’s a bit of an exaggeration but you get what I’m saying)._

_“Already forgetting,” she said in an exasperated tone._

_“I well – um – well I didn’t actually-”_

_“I was just kidding,” she giggled. “But we did agree on five-thirty.”_

_“Right,” I muttered nodding, praying to god my cheeks weren’t as red as they felt. We dumped the remains of my friends’ food into the bins and came back only to see Lauren talking to Jonathan and Perrie and Zayn not so subtly making out at the table. We only had two minutes left of lunch but I knew every single one of them was going to make those two minutes count in their own ways and I didn’t want to be around._

_“Oh god,” I mumbled and she laughed a little. I thought about it and I thought maybe I should make these two minutes count for myself as well. “Um, where’s your next class?”_

_“Magee’s room in the C-wing,” she responded. Thank you Lord Jesus._

_“Well, I’m heading to the C-wing myself,” I said with a bit of a smile. I boldly held out my cocked arm towards her and I saw a tint of pink hit her cheeks. “Would you mind if I escorted you to your classroom?”_

_“Not at all.” She curled the fingers of her left hand around my bicep and smiled at me. This was actually happening. This was actually fucking happening._

_“So…” I said hoping she’d have something to say. The cat would always have my tongue when it came to Rachel and I never knew what to say._

_“Oh, I should probably mention that my parents are going out tonight. It’s my aunt’s birthday and they’re all going to some fancy dinner.”_

_“And you aren’t?” she just rolled her eyes in the kind of way that told me she wasn’t exactly invited._

_“Nope,” she said after a moment, popping the ‘p’._

_“Oh, does that mean that it will just be us at your house? That doesn’t seem like the type of thing you’d do, Jensen, I must admit.”_

_“What do you mean?”_

_“Ya know, sneaking boys in when your parents are out…” she giggled and I felt proud of myself for being able to make her laugh._

_“Well, 1) my parents never really care as long as I tell them about it first and 2) my grandfather lives with us so he’ll be there. He normally occupies the front room from sunrise to sunset though so we could work in the basement.”_

_“That’s fine,” I said and I could see Miss Magee’s room from where we were and I felt my heart sink a little. I don’t know why I thought this could last longer than the six minutes we get for passing period but it just felt a little sad I had to leave her, ya know? “Here we are: Magee’s room in the C-wing.”_

_“So it appears we are here. Well thank you for your escort. I will see you tonight, correct?”_

_“Five-thirty,” I said with a small nod and a big smile matching hers before she untangled her hand from my bicep and hurried herself to her seat. I might be a bit too attached or clingy or a bit over dramatic but I felt my heart drop a little when she let go of my arm and I already wanted her back by my side. I wanted to walk out of this hell hole with her on my arm and I would walk her into town. I would show her the little barber shop I used to go to when I was a tyke. It was the coolest place because they would put cartoons on the telly and you’d sit in this racecar seat. I’d show her the red seat – that was my absolute favorite. Then I’d tell her about the trips I would make when my sisters were sick to get them chicken noodle soup. But not the Campbell’s kind; I thought that one was always too bland. I bet that story would earn me some points. Girls are always into guys who take care of kids. It was something about being sensitive or some shit._

_“Louis?” I heard a voice from behind that took me from my thoughts. I turned around to see Mrs. Tripeer waiting at her door with a puzzled look on her face. I would be confused to if I saw a boy standing in the middle of a hallway smiling like an idiot at absolutely nothing but the dull coloured walls._

_“Right, sorry,” I said rushing down the hallway._

_“Are you okay?”_

_“Fantastic,” I said with a smile._

_“You won’t be so ‘fantastic’ if you get your second tardy. Come on then, hurry along.” I nodded, still with a wide smile hurting my cheeks and waltzed into the classroom. It was Chemistry which wasn’t my favorite but it didn’t matter because only one more class until I get to go home and then to Rachel’s. I couldn’t stop smiling._

_—_

_I did the usual routine. I walked with Lauren and Jonathan to the buses until Jonathan parted from us to go his own bus. I don’t think he really liked me all that much or maybe it was just because I was just as close to Lauren as he was. This kid, to me, was an asshole sometimes and I know Lauren could do better but she likes him and he makes her happy so I leave her alone. After Jonathan got on his bus, Lauren gave me a big smile and I don’t know if it was from him or if it was pure excitement for me._

_“What?”_

_“On a scale of 1-10 how excited are you for tonight?”_

_“You might be more excited for me than I am.”_

_“Probably, but just answer the question.” I thought about it a moment._

_“Laur, I’m really trying not to get my hopes up,” I lied. Well I wasn’t fully lying, that’s how it was from the beginning. But I gave up after I walked her to her class earlier today. My hopes were higher than Zayn and Ed when they’re alone._

_“Okay, true that there is a chance nothing will happen. But **dude**  what if it does. What if you guys are studying and she drops her pencil and you both reach for it-”_

_“I really don’t want to hear your silly clichés,” I told her putting a hand up to her face which she just smacked back down. Lauren was so cliché. Like all the time and I always had to tease her for it._

_“Whatever,” she said setting her arse on the inside of the bus bench._

_“What are you doing?” I asked her not sitting down and she furrowed her brows together. In response I just rolled my eyes and scoffed. “It’s my turn to sit by the window.”_

_“No, you sat here on the way to school.” Everyone else found it really weird that we argued for the inside seat because normally everyone wants the outside seat. But we both hated almost everyone else on that bus and didn’t want to be forced to socialize with them and that’s what happens to whoever sits on the outside._

_“Yeah but you sat there both on the way to and from school yesterday.”_

_“That was only because you missed the bus yesterday morning so I sat with Corey and he wanted the outside.” I just plopped down on the seat and let out an obvious sigh and she laughed._

_“Thank you,” she cooed._

_“Uh-huh,” was all I said. Just then, Brandon scampered onto the bus and had that stupid ass smirk on. I groaned just loud enough for Lauren to hear and she looked up from her text messages from Jon (keeping in mind he saw her less than five minutes ago) and then looked at me._

_“You can’t let his very presence bug you that much when he rides our bus every day.” She was right. I couldn’t let him get to me. It’s just that I really hated him. He was king of the douchebags and was a huge dick to every slut he dated. I mean sure they’re sluts, but I’m sure they are generally nice girls (most of them anyways). The only one that he dated that wasn’t a slut was Rachel. She was the beginning of his “a relationship a week” phase when I didn’t hate him. They dated for two months before he cheated on her with this slut, Jessica Something, and she called it off. That was a huge contribution to why I hated him but there were other reasons too and I just felt my jaw clench every time I saw him._

_“I know,” I said after a minute._

_“Then relax. He’s not that bad anyways,” she said quietly._

_“How can you defend him like that? Just because he’s your neighbor…”_

_“I can defend him because I know he’s not actually as bad of a person as he portrays himself to be. Yeah he acts like a douche, but have you ever seen him holding his little brother? He’s so good with the kid. Brandon has a heart of gold honestly and I wish you wouldn’t act like such a dick towards him all the time.” I didn’t say anything, even though I had a lot to say after that. Like I never said he doesn’t have a heart I just called him a douche and I could remind her that he’s dated almost every whore in the school. Well not all of them, maybe about a fourth of them. But if we’re being honest it’s hard to come across a girl in the school who isn’t a whore. Because there were a lot and one fourth is still a pretty big number. But, the only time Lauren was ever stubborn with someone, it was with me, and we would spend the whole ride arguing about it and really I hated arguing. Not just with her but with everyone. I just don’t see the point in it when someone could just work out a solution without any yelling._

_“Yeah, that little guy is pretty cute isn’t he?” was all I said. She smiled at me and patted my leg before returning to her phone._

_We rode the bus to the local primary school in town and picked up all of the twats and then continued our journey from house to house. Lauren’s stop was just a few stops before mine, so she was a couple streets away from me, but we lived in the same neighborhood so she’s within walking distance, which is good if she needed help with chemistry and if I needed help with algebra. When we came to her stop, I scooted out form the seat to let her pass – which is exactly why I think I should be the one to ride on the inside on the way home and her one the way to school; it all just seems so much easier to me._

_“See you later, loser,” I shouted at her as she took a step down._

_“Bye, faggot,” she responded with. We have such a loving relationship. Within a minute, I got a text from her as she was walking towards her house._

_Let me know how tonight goes ;)_

_The nosy little prick is always snooping in my business. As we pulled up to my stop, I hopped off and was instantly being swarmed by Phoebe and Daisy._

_“Looouuuiiisssss!” Daisy shouted as Phoebe locked her body around my left leg._

_“Oi! Would you get off of me?” She gave me a small pout and I felt awful every time so I gave her a little smile and knelt down in front of her._

_“Hey, I’m sorry, Phoebs. How about a piggy back ride, eh?” I asked her and she beamed at me. She scurried around to my back and clamped her arms around my neck and I hoisted her up._

_“I want a turn,” Daisy pouted from the ground and I thought about how I could fit the two of them. This was not a normal thing for me. Normally, I would be shooing them off or something but I was in a really great mood today and I had a lot to look forward to tonight so I was being generous._

_“Phoebe, would you mind getting down real quick?” She did as I asked her and then I crouched down in front of both of them and patted each of my shoulders. “Be careful now, girls.” They both eased their bums onto each of my shoulders one at a time as I locked my arms around their waists. And I stood up and there were gasps and giggles and I couldn’t help but smile because they sounded like they were having a good time. I had a bit of a ways to walk because my bus would drop me off at the end of the street so I had to get to my house on my own._

_“Lou, please out them down before your mother has a heart attack,” my mum scolded me as I strutted up the driveway._

_“It’s fun, mummy,” Phoebe shouted._

_“Louis William, now,” she said and I complied and set them down gently in the grass and I gave her a curt smile. “Thank you, now there are some frozen pizzas in the freezer. You can heat those up and make sure these two are in bed by ten tonight, yeah?”_

_“What?”_

_“Don’t tell me you forgot, I asked you to babysit for me tonight?”_

_And with that all of my plans and aspirations for life basically came crashing down._

_“Can’t you send them somewhere else? They can go to Malory’s can’t they?” Malory was their best friend. I needed something, anything, to get out of babysitting. I had to go to Rachel’s._

_“I’m sorry, baby, but I don’t have the time to call people but if you want to call someone and have them watch them just let me know okay? Okay, I love you,” she said kissing my cheek and rushing into the driver’s seat. She gave the girls a wave off before pulling away and down the road. I looked at the twins and they looked at me and I thought about where to send them. Then it hit me._

_“C’mon girls,” I said walking down the street. They followed me for a couple blocks until we stepped onto the small porch and rang the doorbell with them on each of my sides. When she opened the door, I gave her my best puppy dog pout._

_“Oh nuh-uh,” Lauren said shaking her head._

_“Lauren, please? For me?”_

_“Lou, I just got everyone out of the house and I turned on Friends and I have my Cheetos like I’m all set up.”_

_“Lauren, my mum is leaving and I already have to…switch the plan around by moving its location. I have nowhere else to take them, please?” I was trying to get my dilemma across to her without flat out saying “I need to get rid of the girls because I want to have a girl over.”_

_“What plan?” Daisy asked furrowing her brows together._

_“Are you throwing a party?” Phoebe followed up._

_“No, I’m not throwing a party.”_

_“But he’s planning one,” Lauren butted in. I shot her a look and she just smirked at me._

_“For who?!?”_

_“He’s planning one for Lottie, it’s almost her birthday, remember?”_

_“We wanna help!!”_

_“Um…you can’t. Because then you’ll find a secret clue as to what your birthday party will look like.”_

_“We get a birthday party too??”_

_“Yup, only if Lauren will let you stay here though.” They both looked up at Lauren and gave their best puppy pouts and big eyes and she just shook her head at me before stepping out of the way and gesturing them to come in. They both shouted cheered and I smiled at her. What a great friend she is, yeah?_

_“You’re the best,” I said wrapping my arms around her shoulders. “C’mon then, hug me back!”  She snickered into my shoulder before lazily snaking her arms around my waist._

_“I know I am aren’t I?”_

_“I love you!” I shouted before rushing out the door and back to my house._

_Once I got home, I plopped down on my bed and pulled the crumpled piece of paper from my pocket with Rachel’s information on it. I pulled my phone off of its charger and checked the time: 3:47pm. I had better call her now. It rang twice before she answered._

_“Hello?”_

_“Rachel, it’s Louis.”_

_“Louis? Louis who?” I felt my cheeks get hot. How could she not remember me? I’m like the only Louis in the school. And I remember her all the time and there are tons of girls called Rachel._

_“Um…Lou-Louis T-Tomlinson,” I stuttered out and she started laughing._

_“Lou, I was joking. Gosh, I thought you were sarcastic can’t you recognize a sarcastic tone when ya hear one?” There she went calling me Lou again._

_“Well, I’m in a bit of a pickle so my sarcasm radar isn’t at its best.”_

_“And what pickle would that be?”_

_“See, my mum is sort of out. And she has the car. And I don’t have a way to get to your house. So I was wondering if maybe you would like to come here instead.”_

_“I don’t know, going to a boy’s house without adult supervision?”_

_“I promise I won’t try anything hasty.” I felt my cheeks burning telling her that. Because it was true I wouldn’t. I liked her too much to just shag her when we weren’t even anything._

_“Well I would hope not. I just don’t think my parents would be okay with it.”_

_“Oh,” was all I could say._

_“But, you do live by Lauren, right?”_

_“Yeah, what’s your point?”_

_“I’ll just tell them I’m going there. Worst comes to worst I can just run over there, yeah?”_

_“Sounds like a plan to me.”_

_“You don’t think she would mind, do you?”_

_“Not at all! She’d totally be okay with it,” I reassured her, even though I was lying through my teeth. I already dumped my sisters there.  And Lauren’s gonna kill me. I’m gonna have to find some way to pay her back._

_“Great, guess I’ll be there in an hour and a half or so.”_

_“Fantastic, I’m out my pickle now.”_

_“See you in a bit, Lou,” she said before the line clicked dead. See you in a bit, **Lou.**  She did it again. Okay, from now on, only she can call me that. I’ll have to make the announcement tomorrow to all my loved ones._

_So I had an hour and a half to freshen up not just myself but the house because it was a wreck. I hopped in the shower first – making sure to blow-dry my hair afterwards – and then went to clean up the living room._

_Now, given my sisters’ age, you would think they were over Barbie dolls by now. Well I can assure you, judging by the dozens that were scattered across the floor, that they have not outgrown them. I picked up the crap on the floor: dolls, shoes, coats, dirty socks, anything. I may have happened to sweep and dust and vacuum too. Ya know, to help mum out and stuff._

_Well I had my hair all set and I tried to dress casual and still make sure I looked super good at the same time. I may have lit a candle or two around the house and threw a couple flowers in a vase but hey who even notices? I had talked to her a little bit more and we decided she could park at my house but she would just have to leave by ten, giving my mum would be home at 10:30pm. So I sat in the chair of my living room and waited. I tried to do something else besides watch my window but I found myself glancing that way every two seconds._

_Finally, a black jeep pulled into the driveway and Rachel got out with a big bag in her hand. I raced down the stairs I was so excited before I skipped the last step and fell on my face. Shit! I felt a shoe on my stomach and I felt as if that would leave a bruise tomorrow. Oh well, no matter. Rachel was here. That’s all I needed. So I just stood up and shook it off before swinging open the door._

_“Hello there,” she said beaming at me with that perfect smile._

_“Hiya,” she answered back. I felt like I could kiss her. Right there in my foyer. But I didn’t. Because I couldn’t. Damn._

_“What’s in the bag?”_

_“Um, a dress? We have to do a set of formal shots, remember?”_

_“Oh, shit, yeah, I should probably get a suit or something.”_

_“I would suggest it.” I rolled my eyes and let her in and watched her kick off her shoes before scampering up the stairs, her following close behind._

_“You have a nice house,” she said glancing around._

_“Thank you,” was all I said back. You have a nice face._

_“Were you trying to impress me?” she said pointing out the flower and candle on the kitchen table and smiling. I felt my whole face grow red and I didn’t know what to say and just started to sputter._

_“Um – I, I was just – uh…”_

_“Would you relax?” she shouted laughing. “I was totally kidding.”_

_“Right.” I nodded and gave her a curt smile and she responded with a gleaming one that she carried on that piece of perfection she called her face so well. A few moments of silence passed as she examined pictures on the walls and magnets on the fridge._

_“Shall we get started?” I said after a minute or two._

_“Of course, do you have any bed sheets?”_

_“What? Why?”_

_“Well, I thought we could make it all fancy and hang some sheets up like a backdrop. Maybe put some Christmas lights up too.”_

_“You’re an overachiever aren’t you,” I said rolling my eyes and she just giggled and I swear to god it’s probably the noise you would hear when you enter into heaven._

_“A bit yes, is that a problem?”_

_“No, not really; I just wanted to make sure because I’m actually overachieve more than most overachievers.”_

_“Oh do you now?” she asked rhetorically._

_“I do indeed.”_

_“Haven’t you spent like 75% of your time talking to Lauren in class? And then don’t you make her do your homework?”_

_“Yeah but I overachieve in presentations, projects, and representation.”_

_“What the hell are you talking about?” I didn’t really know what I was saying myself so I just brushed it off._

_“I’m gonna go get the sheets. And I might have some Christmas lights in some bins out in my garage so I’ll check.”_

_“Do you have somewhere I could change?” she asked gesturing to her dress inside the bag. I pointed her to a bathroom before rushing off to get what we needed. I decided on my blue sheet from my bed. It was a faded blue, not too attention grabbing giving we needed the attention to be on Rachel or myself. But it still had a quality that gave it a sophisticated look. I dug through my closet before I found my suit I wore to my Cousin’s wedding a few months back and put on my favorite blue tie. It was one of the best suits I’ve ever owned too. It even had those ___ on the sleeves. I checked myself in the mirror and decided to grab my bottle of hair gel and brushed my hair into a quick quiff. I ended up finding some crystal lights in the garage to hang like I thought there would be. I knew my procrastination in putting away the decorations from two months ago would pay off somehow. When I got back to the living room, Rachel was waiting on the couch adjusting the lens on her camera. She stood up and I swear I felt my jaw hit the floor because…wow. I couldn’t find another word to describe how stunning she looked if I tried. It was a sleeveless dress and was like a white color – maybe cream or eggshell or something – and she had a single thick black sash wrapping around her middle. It was such a simple dress but she made it so…dazzling. I don’t know. She looked hot._

_“Do you have like a black tie instead of blue?” she asked me. “We’d match better that way.”_

_“Um…I – uh – I think I do…um,” I couldn’t even form words._

_“What? Is there something wrong?”_

_“No, no not at all; you just…you look beautiful is all.” That was the first time I ever said something that could be taken as flirtatious to her and giving the way she blushed I think it made her feel just as gorgeous as she looked. And I’m glad I said it._

_“Thank you,” she muttered out looking at her feet, “you look good too.”_

**_She thought I looked good._ **

_“Thanks,” I said. Although I didn’t just say it; I kind of made some weird noise. It was like a laugh but it was very squeaky. But she said she thought I looked good. I couldn’t contain whatever the hell that noise was. “So, shall we begin?”_

_“We shall.” She stood up and helped me hang the “backdrop” before taking a step back to look at it._

_“Lift it up a little bit,” she said after a minute._

_“Like this?”_

_“Yeah, just like that.”_

_“This whole little conversation we just had could be very misinterpreted,” I said laughing a little bit and she joined in with._

_“How mature of you to say,” she retorted and I put my hands up in defense._

_“Hey, no one ever said I was very mature. I’m just not a douchebag.”_

_“Yeah, yeah whatever, can we just get started on this please?”_

_“Fine, fine,” I set the camera up on its legs and positioned the lens at the right spot._

_“Who’s going first?”_

_“You can.” She answered so quickly I almost didn’t even finish the question. “I like to take pictures.” I smirked and just rolled my eyes before standing in front of the sheet and lights._

_“Okay, we need five poses each for the formal cuts. Got anything in mind?”_

_“Well, if I have to wear a suit I might as well do it right.” This was my chance to make her laugh. I turned around so I was facing the backdrop and then quickly turned my torso and looked at the camera with a smolder. It worked! She did laugh. And it was a beautiful noise. After that I just did a smile and a couple different stances and then I attempted to stand on my hands but evidently fell, almost knocking our sheet down._

_She turned her iPod onto shuffle while we posed to make it a bit more fun, and I was right. She had A++ music taste. It was superb if you asked me. I don’t know when it happened, but at one point, I forgot I had this massive crush on her and we ended up having a lot of fun. we both did a bunch of weird and funny poses and we used the self-timer and took a bunch of pictures of the two of us with our formal outfits and silly hats (we needed silly hats for creativity). By the time we were finished taking pictures, it was around 6:30pm, and she packed up all her stuff and we had put away the lights and the sheets and everything looked like it did before she got here._

_“Well, at least we got our project out of the way,” I said as she put the dress into the bag._

_“Yeah, we didn’t procrastinate like I usually do.” This felt so awful seeing her getting ready to leave so soon. We had a lot of fun. And now she’s just like…leaving. But I didn’t want to seem desperate so I just said: “Well, this was a pleasant time we had, wasn’t it now?”_

_“Indeed, it was,” she responded with when she was sitting on my staircase putting her shoes on. Her bag tumbled down the stairs just then and all of its contents spilled out onto the floor, and underneath her dress were a couple films._

_“Those are great films,” I said gesturing towards Forrest Gump and 21 Jump Street._

_“Indeed, they are…would you like to watch them with me?”_

_“Sure, I have a telle downstairs-”_

_“-No, I meant at my house. C’mon I’ll give you a lift.”_

_“Yeah, sure, let me just get a ride home.” I took my phone from my pocket and dialed my mum before giving Rachel a signal to stay quiet._

_“Hello, sweetheart,” my mum said when she answered her phone._

_“Mum, would it be alright if I went to a friend’s house tonight? We need to…work on a project together. You know that lass Rachel who Lauren sometimes chats with?”_

_“That’s fine darling, but her parents are going to be home, right?”_

_“Her grand pap is there,” I said hoping it would be enough. She thought on it a minute before giving me permission and said she would be there to pick me up at midnight._

_“Wait, what about your sisters?”_

_“Lauren’s got them.”_

_“Do I need to pay her?”_

_“No I told her I owe her.”_

_“Alright,” my mum said with a laugh. She knew very well who Rachel was. But she wasn’t embarrassing about it so it was okay._

_So we got in the car and ordered a pizza as soon as we started driving, then we picked our pizza up and headed to her house. It was a nice home and her grandfather was in the living room watching the telle when we got there so we had to go downstairs. It was really pretty down there because there was a mini Christmas tree set up and crystal lights hung on the railing and walls. (It was mid-December.)_

_She turned on the TV and the last station it was on was the Christmas music station. She blushed red and I just raised my eyebrows at her._

_“Hey it’s December and Christmas music can lift the spirits, especially when there’s -2 inches of snow on the ground.”_

_“Would you say you’re dreaming of a white Christmas?” I said just as the song came on. She just shook her head at me and tried to stifle her giggles. This was the perfect moment, I thought. I made her laugh she has to say yes._

_“Care for a dance?” I said as boldly as I could. She smiled and took my outstretched hand. I set my hand on her hip and maybe it was a little too low because she raised it a little higher._

_“Your hand seemed to be wandering a bit,” she said arching a brow._

_“Hey, I said I wouldn’t do anything too hasty didn’t I?” she laughed and rested her head on my shoulder. “Besides,” I continued, “I couldn’t treat such a wonderful girl like that. It wouldn’t be gentlemen-like. How do you expect me to try and ask a girl out after I was acting like a total dick?”_

_“Are you asking me out? Because I don’t think that’s a sufficient way of doing it if you’re trying to be gentlemen-like, Louis,” she said pronouncing the ‘S’ in Louis._

_“Oh I suppose you’re right. My dearest apologies, madam.” I let her go and knelt down on one knee in front of her smiled up at her._

_“Rachel Jensen, I’ve had this…this infatuation with you for quite some time now…and I was wondering if you would give me the greatest pleasure of accompanying me to dinner one evening.”_

_“That’s a little out of the blue, don’t ya think?”_

_“Well, I kind of have been mustering up the courage to do this for a while and I finally just have enough. I don’t want to lose it. Are you saying no?”_

_“Stand up, ya twat,” she said pulling me to my feet. She wrapped her arms around my neck and mine snaked around her waist. “I suppose I could spare an evening for you,” she shrugged and laughed._

_“Would it be too hasty if I kissed you right about now?” I asked. She looked up at me and her bright blue eyes were shimmering under the glow of the crystal lights. They were stunning. She was stunning._

_“It wouldn’t be hasty enough if you didn’t,” she responded with and I smiled at her before slowly and carefully lowering my lips onto her soft pink ones._

_~~ ~~ ~~_

“And we’ve been in love ever since,” I said tucking Avery into bed. Ryder was sitting in the chair in the corner of the room. About half way through my story he put his book down and just listened for once.

“Is that really how you and mummy fell in love?” my little nine-year-old asked from her bed.

“Yes, ma’am; Turns out your mother had liked me for just about as long as I had her.” Aves had asked for a different type of bed story that night. I thought Ryder should hear it too so I pulled him in there to listen.

“That was actually kinda cool,” my 12 year old son said standing up and stretching.

“See, bud, I told you that you would like it.” I gave him a pat on the back and sent him back to his room to sleep.

I gave Avery a final kiss to the head. “Goodnight, bug, sleep tight.”

“Daddy?”

“Yes?”

“Do you think I’ll meet a boy who will like me like you like mummy?” I gave her a soft smile and nodded a little.

“You will. And I won’t let anyone less gentlemen-like lay a finger on you.” I gave her a reassuring nod and she kissed my nose with her little lips.

“I love you, daddy.”

“I love you too, Pumpkin.” Her eyes were looking up at me and they reminded me all too much of Rachel’s.

I closed the door to her room and went out into the living room and plopped down on the couch.

“Louis,” I heard her beautiful voice call. “Louis, it’s almost ten, how come she’s only getting settled in now?”

“Long story,” I told her giving her a nod. I stood from the couch and wrapped my arms around her waist just like that first day. “In the 22 years that we’ve been together, I don’t think I’ve ever loved you more than I do today,” I told her.

“Well, how sweet of you,” she smiled.

“I love you, Rachel,” I told her.

“I love you, too,” she responded. I kissed her lips again, knowing that all I had to do was to wait until tomorrow. I would probably love her even more then.


End file.
